ITALY – Lago di Como, Villa la Gaeta // Casino Royale (2006)
At the end of “Casino Royale”, Bond says his signature line for the first time – at beautiful Villa La Gaeta. The luxury lake house isn’t easy to access. But there are a few tricks.
Why Bond was here
After James Bond (Daniel Craig) won a poker game in Montenegro to bring down villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), his beloved Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) betrays him and gets away with the money. She got extorted, sacrifices herself for Bond and leaves him a single clue: a contact to mysterious Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). Bond finds White at the luxury home Villa la Gaeta at Lago di Como in northern Italy. He shoots him in the leg and introduces himself for the first time in the Craig era with the iconic sentence: “Bond. James Bond”.
The name is Bond: 007 arriving at Villa la Gaeta
How you gonna get there
Villa la Gaeta is an old lake house at the western shore of Lago di Como, situated along the coastal road from Menaggio up north towards Acquaseria. A car ride from Como is roughly an hour, local autobus C10 goes several times a day from Como up to Villa la Gaeta as well. Closest airport is down in Milano, about a two hour drive away.
The problem is: Villa la Gaeta is privately owned and driving by will most of the times get you to a closed gate only. There are two ways to get a better look at the villa though. A really expense one and a budget, yet dolce vita, solution.
Good to know
Though a private villa, it can be booked for accommodation. There are four bedrooms with room for eight people in total. But it’s not cheap: The whole Villa la Gaeta can be rented for roughly 2000 Euros per night. And you have to take it for a full week as minimum stay. Find offers via vrbo.com or airbnb.com. There is a slightly cheaper option via TripAdvisor: The site offers to book just one room for 250 Euros per night and a minimum stay for five nights.
Entering Villa la Gaeta
But there is a second way to get a good look at the iconic villa without spending a months salary. Villa la Gaeta is famed for its beautiful view at Lago di Como. The same goes vice versa: You can rent a motorboat and just cruise over to the estate to get a good look.
We recommend coming to Menaggio. The beautiful coastal village is situated in the adjoining bay to the villa. A boat ride takes just about five minutes. There are some operators who offer boat rentals with or without a driver at the Menaggio harbor, we believe Nautic Planet has the best deals. You can rent a motorboat for an hour starting from 80 Euros including gas. The time will be enough to get to Villa la Gaeta as well as steering your boat all the way to another famous Bond location: Villa del Balbianello!
Wanna grab a bite after your boat ride? The piazza at Menaggio has some nice cafés and ice joints. But we highly recommend a hidden gem instead: Head north for the quaint fisher village Rezzonico. Right next to their stone-walled castle is the little trattoria “Dei Platani”, that offers pizza, originially pasta dishes and always fresh fish from the lake. And: the view over the lake – and its sundown – is magnificient.
© 2022 Huntingbond (1,4), © 2006 Sony Pictures, Danjaq LLC and United Pictures Inc. (2,3)